A crushing Europa Conference League semi-final loss to Olympiacos and 5-0 battering at the hands of Crystal Palace saw Aston Villa’s 2023-24 end on a sour note, but the campaign was still one of unbridled celebration for Emery and co.
Now meeting the targets of the incredibly ambitious owners, the Lions will compete in the top tier of European football for the first time in 42 years, having pipped the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to fourth place in the English top flight.
Not since the 1982-83 European Cup have the Villans dined at the continent’s top table, meaning that Wednesday’s visitors will make their debut in the Champions League – as it is now known – this season, and few can argue that their place among Europe’s elite was not warranted.
Villa’s shock fourth-placed finish was down in no small part to a record-breaking sequence of home wins – prevailing in their first eight Villa Park games of the new term and an astounding 15 overall – but none of their seven pre-season matches will be played in familiar surroundings.
Indeed, Emery’s men will soon face Spartak Trnava in Slovakia before a stopover in the USA, where Columbus Crew, Club America and RB Leipzig await. Athletic Bilbao then arrive at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium in August, before preparations conclude in Germany against Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.
Used to hosting relatively obscure League Two players rather than Champions League contenders, Walsall’s humble home will be blessed with the arrivals of top-class talents in the coming weeks, whom Mat Sadler‘s men ought to take some inspiration from.
Sharing Aston Villa’s end-of-season pain by losing four of their final five League Two fixtures, Wednesday’s hosts wound up in an unspectacular 11th place in the League Two table with 65 points, conceding an alarming 73 goals en route to their mid-table ranking.
While Villa will be taking part in their inaugural pre-season friendly this week, Walsall have already marched to a straightforward success over Southern League Premier Division side Alvechurch, whom they put to the sword 3-0 on Saturday.
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Harry Williams, Charlie Lakin and Jamie Jellis all got on the scoresheet in a comfortable outing for Sadler’s Saddlers, as a mixture of first-team stalwarts, up-and-coming prospects and a couple of trialists all earned valuable summertime minutes at Lye Meadow.
Fixtures with Tamworth, Birmingham City, Drogheda United and Solihull Moors are also on the pre-season agenda for Walsall, who have not butted heads with Aston Villa in a competitive setting since days in the Third Division in 1972, but they played out a 1-1 friendly stalemate almost exactly 12 months ago.
